Quote of the day
by Volker Weber
It's not enough just to travel. The experience of being forced to be the user of a second (or absent) language is one that every English-speaker should regularly encounter as a cure to imperialism and ignorance. For the lack of it, wars are fought.
— Simon Phipps
Comments
Also, a big advantage of speaking a second language is that it keeps the brain fit :-)
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9844783%255E23289,00.html
I couldn't agree more. I have some hope that as Spanish becomes more prevelant in the US, we will slowly become more aware that other languages actually exist, but in the meantime, there is nothing like travelling somewhere else to humble you. Of course, the most humbling part is that so many of those places, the people speak English as well as their native language, and often another language as well.
I have learned Spanish, and largely forgotten it, and am trying to learn German, but it is hard here in the US where there is so little exposure or chance to use it. It took living in Venezuela to learn Spanish, so perhaps I simply need to move to Germany for a year.
